From the Editors

A major civil rights, quality of life, and health issue for women with developmental and other disabilities is the presence of violence in their lives. Women with disabilities experience the highest rate of personal violence  violence at the hands of spouses, partners, boyfriends, family members, caregivers, and strangers  of any group in our society today. Yet, they are often invisible in the crime statistics, frequently find community services such as domestic and sexual violence programs inadequately prepared to fully understand and meet their needs, face disability service systems that dont clearly see and effectively respond to the violence, and are all too commonly devalued and unsupported because of societal prejudice.

In this issue of Impact we examine violence as it impacts women with developmental and other disabilities  what we know, what we dont know, and what needs to be done to prevent it and to help women recover from it. We offer strategies and ideas for bringing together disability service providers, sexual and domestic violence programs, law enforcement and the justice system, policymakers, researchers, and women with disabilities  presenting these articles in the hope that this epidemic will soon end.

Resources

Publication Information

Ellie J. Emanuel
Institute on Community Integration
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Mary Hayden
Institute on Community Integration
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Impact is published quarterly by the Institute on Community Integration (University Affiliated Program), and the Research and Training Center on Community Living, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. This issue was supported, in part, by Grant #90DD0506/01 from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, US Department of Health and Human Services; and Grant #H133B980047 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, US Department of Education.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute, College, University, or their funding sources. For additional information contact:

Retrieved from the Web site of the Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota (http://ici.umn.edu). Citation: Abramson, W., Emanuel, E., Gaylord, V., & Hayden, M. (Eds.). (2000). Impact: Feature Issue on Violence Against Women with Developmental or Other Disabilities, 13(3) [online]. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration. Available at http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/133/.

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